AL.com Opinion

Ever since President Nixon infamously declared a "War on Drugs" in an impassioned speech in 1971, the United States has been engaged in a massive effort to incarcerate its own citizens. The concept of paying one's debt to society has become secondary to the misguided belief that longer sentences are potent and cost-effective deterrents to criminality.

More black men are imprisoned today than were slaves prior to the Civil War and there is still widespread racial and economic bias in convictions and sentencing.

If the theory of deterrence had the real-world impact that policy makers advertise, then we wouldn't see our judicial system strained to the point of absurdity or our prisons overloaded at two to three times capacity. Yet, year after year, we are lulled by the clichés of political hucksters who claim that the only way to be tough on crime is to mandate longer and harsher sentences while simultaneously cutting funding and access to social services.

Being tough on crime has demonstrably trumped being smart on crime. The United States leads the world in imprisoning its own people by an obscene and disgraceful margin.

The explosion of mass incarceration has been fueled by the gimmickry of mandatory minimum sentencing, stiffer penalties for victimless crimes, and the systematic defunding of mental health and substance abuse services. The problem has also been exacerbated by the militarization of local police departments who are increasingly adopting a philosophy of "shoot first and ask questions later".

In America, we like to say we don't have debtors' prisons, but being homeless is a crime. Cities and counties are increasingly using private companies to manage probation programs which has led to more poor people are going to jail when they are unable to pay exorbitant fees and interest on their fines. Hmmm... that sort of sounds a lot like debtors' prison after all.

For over forty years, our nation's medical community has shown overwhelming evidence that chronic addiction to drugs is a disease of the mind and body, yet we spend exponentially more money on imprisonment and only a pittance on effective evidence-based treatment.

Now that the human rights abuses occurring in Tutwiler Prison have shamefully put Alabama in the national spotlight, many of the same politicians who enthusiastically caused the problem are suddenly interested in a quick-fix solution. Well, provided they don't look "weak" on crime during an election year.

The folly and futility of mass incarceration can be seen in its gargantuan price tag and its reciprocal negative effects on our nation's economy. Nowadays, a misdemeanor DUI or petty theft conviction can be a lifelong sentence to unemployment or underemployment, particularly in states that have no provisions for the eventual and conditional expungement of criminal records.

Yet, we pass more and more laws with harsher and more extreme penalties with each election and legislative cycle. Due to the relative inexpensiveness and ease of modern, computerized background checks, more industries are prying into peoples' pasts unnecessarily. People are rarely even given a chance to explain to prospective employers their individual circumstance or efforts toward genuine rehabilitation or societal penance. Even after a debt is paid or time is served, there is no practical forgiveness. We are institutionalizing a system of no second chances and lifelong stigmatization at a staggering cost to the taxpayer.

The time has come for significant and comprehensive judicial and penal reform. We can no longer "throw away the key" and think excessive retribution through sentencing is an effective deterrent. This approach has been futile and foolish. Let's get smart on crime, because our "tough" approach has been ridiculously expensive and summarily stupid.

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